Turn your iPad into a PC â€“ sort of â€“ with remote-access apps

February 5, 2013

Ever had to access your PC or laptop while you were out of the office? Ever needed that particular special file from your desktop computer while you were on the opposite side of the country from it? With your iPad plus a remote-access app, you’re able to access your desktop or laptop no matter where it is or you are. As the name indicates, these apps permit you to use your iPad to take command over your desktop or laptop. Once you’ve gained this control, it’s easy to open files, explore folders, access contact lists and, in some instances, watch movies or videos that you’ve saved on your Home computer or laptop. The best news? There are plenty of remote-access apps to choose from. While remotely controlling your PC isn’t as smooth an experience as simply using it directly, these applications can help out in an emergency.

GoToMyPC: GoToMyPC ranks as the grandfather of remote-access services. The folks behind this service, Citrix, have been offering users remote use of their PCs and laptops since prior to the iPad even hit the market. The good thing about this service? It’s probably the most robust remote-access app on the market. It’s also incredibly easy to utilize. PC Magazine, in a recent review, points to the intuitive button system that lets you easily navigate through your personal computer. In addition, it praises the system’s arrows function, which allows you to make use of your iPad to mimic moving your cursor using a mouse. The downside? GoToMyPC isn’t a bargain. Based upon your service, anticipate paying about $9.95 a month or $99 a year for the application. For some users who only need to remotely access their PC on rare occasions, that cost could be too much.

SplashTop Remote Desktop: Among the more popular remote-access iPad apps, SplashTop Remote Desktop is surprisingly powerful for the affordable price of $4.99. And, as a recent review in CNET says, you can even utilize this app to view and stream videos and music from your PC to your iPad. This is a hard to find feature in the remote-access industry, and makes the program a desirable one.

LogMeIn Ignition: LogMeIn Ignition is yet another lower-priced alternative to popular GoToMyPC, though at $30, it’s more expensive than rival SplashTop. This program was also praised by CNET for its ease of use and effectiveness, but also for two nifty features. First, you can utilize LogMeIn to remotely wake up a sleeping or shut-down PC. Secondly, you may use the software to remotely move files from a PC to your iPad.